Whip corals (Junceella)
Junceella
Genus-level entry: species are told apart only by microscopic features (sclerites). Valid genus (WoRMS, AphiaID 206594, checked 2026-10-31). Species recorded from the Maldives: Junceella juncea.
- English
- Whip corals (Junceella)
- Scientific
- Junceella
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- IUCN status
- NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE) as a genus; most species not assessed
Description
Whip corals are octocorals that grow as long, unbranched or sparsely branched rods, usually red, orange, yellow or white. They stand out from walls and slopes into the current, often in dense stands on channel walls. Some colonies carry small shrimps and gobies. Species are told apart only by microscopic features.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=9); iNaturalist research-grade observations at species level (n=1).
Sources
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=206594
- inaturalist.org /observations/191605121
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.